Chapter 4

Same Day – New World International University

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He had been living in the Philippines since before Yggdrasil happened and he could tell that it used to be hotter here back then. Since Yggdrasil, the Philippines had progressively become a colder country and neighboring countries have been experiencing unusual, colder climate. One theory is that due to the existence of the Yggdrasil Tree, the ozone layer regenerated from the damage it had from pollution. But this is the first time it was this cold. Meteorologists say that it will get even colder in the passing years.

As he was approaching the gate of the University, Lily said "That dream really troubles you, doesn't it?"

"It can't be helped. I'll just take extra precautions." He said as he entered University territory.

Since 2054 AD, the Re-Generation event, magicians and espers started to emerge from the general population born in the 1990's up to the present time, as well as many forms of supernatural beings thought to have been mere fiction. Because the Philippines is the closest country to Tree Island, which appeared sometime a year after, and was the warzone for the Great War it became an important international country, with Manila International as the neutral point of the world. The curriculum taught has been changed all over the world due to the Monarchy's dominance. The New World International University is the first school in the world to have been converted since the war, hence the school's name and is the world's leading academy in magic, ESP, and supernatural studies.

There is a parking lot just inside the school gate for students who have bikes and other vehicles. He parked in his slot, number 49, removed his helmet and tucked it in the compartment.

"Ethan!" shouted a person in front of him. She was wearing a light cream blazer, a blue-colored skirt and knee-high long socks. Right next to her was a guy about the same age.He was wearing a light cream blazer with brown slacks, Anne Clyde and Allen Clyde, seems like they just recently parked their own bike. Ethan had a lot of similar classes with them, so it was inevitable to become acquainted.

"Hey, Allen, Anne" He said as he approached them. They both have light brown hair, and completely look identical being twins. Anne is 5'5" while Allen is 5'7". So as always they're too photogenic, that one of them can be confused for the other if they cross-dress.

"It's rare for you to come to school early, Ethan" Allen said.

"I decided to come early." I blatantly said.

"Great! We can go to class together!" Anne said joyfully.

But he had other plans so he walked to the Main Building instead.

"Where are you going? First class is at the International Studies Building," said Anne.

"To the vending machine, I'm just going to buy iced tea," he said while walking. "I'll just meet you in the classroom."

"Okay, hurry up!" Anne said while being dragged by Allen.

Rather than being mages, Anne and Allen are both espers at birth. ESPers are those that, rather than have magical abilities, have supernatural powers. At the climax of the Re-Generation event, people fought about who was the next course of evolution. At one side were the Mages, who had the ability to use their spiritual energy to tap into the energy around them and accomplish great miracles and at the other side were the ESPers, who had supernatural powers as well as specialized, enhanced, and sometimes specific ability users which depended solely on the person, the second group was then also called Supers. There was never one person who was both. In this school, the students are divided into three groups; the first are the Mages, identified with the blue blazers and black slacks. The second are the Supers, wearing cream and brown uniforms, the third, the Blanks, which are students that have either weak or no abilities, bearing the standard plain white uniforms. They are the most discriminated amongst all the students in this school inhabited mostly by Mages. Due to magic technology, having become the norm in the last decade, mages became the developers of this new generation. One such technology are the Media, tools that improve a mage's capabilities further than espers.

When he got in the Main Building, Lily appeared from his vest pocket and said "Why is it you always avoid socializing too much, Ethan?"

"You know why," he replied.

"Well, that might be. But still," Lily said worryingly.

The University comprises of ten buildings. First, the Main Building is where the library, cafeteria, faculty, gymnasium, and clinic (which is more like a hospital) is. Half of the faculty members are scholars from all over the world and the other half are NGME instructors. Second, the NGME building is the largest and most maintained building. This is where those with abilities are trained and is the only place where one is allowed to use offensive abilities on campus. The walls are made magic-proof and reinforced with iron-titanium alloy, to make sure damage doesn't go outside. It also has a greenhouse where students and faculty can relax and hang out. Then there's the International Studies Building, R&D Building, History Building and Basic Education Building, the smallest one. Though the word "smallest" was used, all of the buildings in the campus can house hundreds to thousands.

When he got to the vending machine that sold the Iced Tea he wanted, there was a line. On the front were a group of students that was having a hard time choosing what they want, and behind them were gossiping instructors. He recognized them as Ms. Belle, the head nurse/healing instructor, and Ms. Gold, the physical education/ physical magic instructor. Their professions collided, so it's no wonder they were friends.

"Hey, did you know, tomorrow a new magic instructor will be here?" Ms. Gold said.

"Kind of strange though, with semestral break coming up." Ms. Belle wondered.

"He's also blond and handsome, they say." Ms. Gold stated.

"Yeah, an American, I also heard he's quite a strong mage too." Ms. Belle said. They both giggled then.

Hmmm... The new instructor isn't here yet and they're already like this....

"He's also going to bring his sister with him too." Ms Gold stated.

"I already know that. Those records came through my office since I'm the head nurse" Ms. Belle said again "I remember the sister since she's really unique."

"Hmm... Why's that?" Ms. Gold asked.

The group up front got their drinks and went off toward the exit. The instructors went ahead to the vending machine. Ms. Bell ordered sparkling water while Ms. Gold ordered chocolate milk. They slowly walked away toward the faculty rooms while talking about their earlier conversation. He was about to choose a drink when he heard Ms. Belle say "Well... she has silver hair..." He froze for a moment and stared at the backs of the instructors. His mind went back to that dream he had earlier. The silver-haired girl...

Ethan!

"Snap out of it!" Lily shouted at him.

He went blank.

"What happened to you?"

"Didn't you hear what Ms. Belle said?"

"I asked the question first!"

"Ms. Belle said that a transfer student with silver hair will be here tomorrow."

"I didn't hear anything like that..."

"You didn't hear it?" he thought to himself. Could I have imagined it?

"You might just be getting paranoid about that." She said that as if she read his mind.

They were the only ones in the hallway now. He took his card and flashed it in the scanner. Lily went back to his vest pocket. He pressed the button for the iced tea he wanted. But it seemed to be out of stock. This must be a bad day.

He just chose milk tea, since Lily likes that too. "Hey, can I have some?" she asked since she noticed he bought the milk tea instead.

"We'll just share this one. You have your little cup with you, right?" he asked. He shrunk a cup about a month after Lily appeared, because she said she wanted to be able to drink normally.

"Yeah, you know I always bring my cup." She said as she took it out from a pocket dimension.

He checked his watch. It was 8:15.

"It's time to go to the classroom. I'll open the milk tea there." he said to Lily.

"Languages 2 room 205, International Studies Building," reminded Lily

"I know," he said as he walked to the exit leading to the I.S. Building.

It was 8:19 when he got there. Anne was in deep conversation with other people in the back. Allen was surfing the Internet with his terminal. Ethan went to where he usually sat, at front, by the window. He asked himself once why he liked to sit there alone, maybe just because he liked the view, or maybe because as a quick getaway. He could just jump from there and do a gravity spell or use air magic instead. He opened the milk tea and Lily quickly sat at the desk in front of him. He poured the drink by manipulating a drop of milk tea into her cup. Lily then used heat magic on the cup to make her drink hot.

Just then people diverted their attention to him and he looked back, and they quickly looked away. He had that effect on a lot of people. As Anne approached him, Allen quickly followed. Anne sat next to him again and Allen sat next to her. Allen and Anne were the only two people that he trusted in class.

"Have you heard about the new instructor and the transfer student?" Anne quickly asked.

"Yeah, I heard from Ms. Belle and Ms. Gold," he replied.

"Rumors say that they'll be here tomorrow," said Allen.

"Where did you hear that from again?" Ethan asked.

"From Ms. Mesira, of course," said Anne.

Ms.Mesira is the Alchemy instructor and also their homeroom teacher. She socializes with a few students in the class as if she was a student herself, so it's common for leaks to happen in the class. Alchemy class, though the name makes it sound outdated, is more like Chemistry 101 with modern magic thrown in.

"I hope the transfer student is a cute girl, we don't have enough here," said Allen.

"Are you saying that your twin sister isn't cute, Allen?" Ethan inquired jokingly.

"What?! I don't count as cute?" shouted Anne.

"No, my sister is cute but I still would want our class to be much livelier."

"You liar, you're just a pervert that wants to stare at cute girls everyday!" Anne said it out loud so that the whole class could hear.

Multiple stares came from the back of the room. Allen looked at Ethan as if wanting him to help him. Sorry, Allen, you're on your own. He saw my reaction and knew what he had to do.

"Well, I also hope that whoever it is could fit in nicely here, since he or she is a transfer student." concluded Allen.

The stares from the back slowly faded.

"But still, Ethan, I bet at the back of your mind you wish that the transfer student can pose a challenge, don't you?" said Allen.

Allen mentioned this since Ethan had the title of King Mage even as a freshman and that he had always won against any other challengers. In every monarch-affiliated magic and powers school, there is always a hierarchy system of power amongst magicians

Mages normally have an inclination toward a certain kind of magic, but that never happened to him. He was good at all of it. Genius was his second nickname. He only used Reformation more often. He was even trained in taijutsu, due to his mother's side of the family. She said that her father also once trained under a very renowned martial artist which was a descendant of the so-called ninja.

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind a good contest," he said calmly.

"Wow, your aura of arrogance and overconfidence is overflowing that it's starting to be scary," said Anne in a monotone voice while going through her stuff.

But still, that's an interesting thought...

He drank the remaining of the milk tea and threw the bottle out of the window. It went in the trash can outside about 50 feet away with no magic assistance.

"Nice shot, Kobe." said Lily while finishing up hers.

The school bell rang, time for Languages 2.